1 Minute Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup. A Very Easy Soup Made From Leftovers

Updated on April 24, 2009

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miikkah/2560809538/

Flavor Encapsulation

The garnishes for this soup are quite important, and they
provide a very interesting sensation of different flavors co-mingling separately
on the tongue which creates a very exciting taste experience. Heston Blumenthal,
the famed chef of the Fat Duck calls this "Flavor Encapsulation – and it
is very neat! Read more on flavor encapsulation here

Books From Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck in the UK. Very Good Reads!

Here's a recipe for the quickest soup you'll ever make in
your life. It's totally vegetarian, very healthy, tasty as tasty can be and if
you've got some leftover sweet potatoes or squash in the fridge, you can make
this in 1 minute.

The coconut milk instead of cream takes this creamy root
vegetable soup in a very different direction from more traditional vegetable cream
soups you may have in the past, and it will leave people at your table
wondering just how you made it…and if they can have some more!!

Leftover sweet potatoes with the skins left on (the skin is
full of lovely healthy stuff). If you don't have leftover sweet potatoes (or
yams) most types of squash will work here as well. You'll need about one medium
sweet potato for a large bowl of soup for one person.

An equal amount of water and coconut milk

A pinch of dried chili pepper

Lime juice

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Finely diced onion

Yogurt

A Few Easy Steps

In a blender combine the sweet potatoes with a small amount
of water and coconut milk.

Start up the blender and purée until the mixture is smooth, adding
the pinch of dried chili and adding equal amounts of coconut milk and water
until the soup has reached a desired consistency.

Pop the mixture into a pot and warm it until hot (You can
also use the microwave here - the object is just to heat it up for serving).

Season with salt and additional chili until the soup tastes
full and it has a bit of background heat (this soup is not really very spicy).

Ladle into bowls and top each bowl with a drizzle of yogurt,
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of very
finely chopped onion.

Serve.

(OK, it might take you more than 1 minute, but if you've got
everything on hand, the soup is very quick
to make….)

I love this as a light lunch the day after a big roast
Sunday style dinner. I almost always have some leftover root vegetables in the
fridge and after a big, rich and meaty meal the night before, it's nice to have
something simple and vegetarian and just a little bit spicy.

Serve it to yourself with a little salad on the side and a
good slice of buttered toasted sourdough bread and you'll know that in this
case - "fast food" is also good food!